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A police force has explained why it issued some of the first punishments in the country for breaching new laws surrounding the coronavirus lockdown.

On Sunday, Cheshire Police officers on patrol in Warrington handed six people fines for offences including going for a drive while "bored".

The action they took went viral after one of the force accounts posted a summary of the incidents on Twitter.

The Warrington Police account wrote: "Overnight six people have been summonsed for offences relating to the new coronavirus legislation to protect the public.

"These included: Out for a drive due to boredom; Returning from parties; Multiple people from the same household going to the shops for non-essential items."

That post has since been shared hundreds of times and 'liked' by more than 1,000 people.

But it also attracted calls for scrutiny, with some questioning whether the action was an appropriate use of the legislation.

Barrister and award-winning author, The Secret Barrister, shared the tweet and wrote: "There is nothing in the legislation that prohibits multiple people from the same household going to the shops. Nor is there a bar on going out to buy “non-essential items”.

"Such things may not be desirable, but they are not crimes.

"This does the police no credit."

The barrister accepted: "It may just be that the tweet is poorly worded and there is more to it. But it doesn’t look good."

In response to an ECHO query, Cheshire Police has now issued a clarification about the prosecutions.

A spokesman said the tweet was incorrect when it described a fine being issued after multiple people from the same home went to shop for non-essential items.

He said this in fact related to an incident when police stopped a vehicle at 3.57am on Sunday, adding: "It emerged the driver and passenger were unknown to each other and had met at a house party that night. They said they were on their way to a garage."

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The spokesman said: "After engaging with the men officers found that they were not related and were from different households. The pair, who were both from the Stockport area, stated to officers that they had driven to Warrington as they were bored."

And at 4am, a man was stopped in the street and said he was returning from a party.

The spokesman said: "It was explained that he shouldn’t be meeting up with people from other households as it contravened the current legislation."

Explaining why the incidents led to court summons - a fine which, if not paid will lead to a court hearing - the spokesman added: "On each occasion, officers explained that they were in breach of the new legislation and they were all given the opportunity to engage with officers and comply.